PANCHO VLADIGEROV PIANO CONCERTI

There are five Vladigerov piano concerti that span the lifetime of this greatest of Bulgarian composers.  Would that there were more examples of his playing, for he was considered a formidable pianist as well.

Vladigerov (1899-1978), largely unknown outside his native country,  is considered to have been the most influential composer in the entire history of Bulgaria.  He was a great pianist, a pupil of Leonid Kreutzer, and the teacher of Alexis Weissenberg, and as a composer, was greatly admired by such luminaries as Richard Strauss, Dmitri Shostakovich, Aram Khachaturian, David Oistrakh, and Emil Gilels.  Speaking of his great symphony, the "Jewish Poem", Opus 47 (1950), Shostakovich said "A work like this is written only once in a hundred years."

Vladigerov taught all the Bulgarian composers of the next generation.  In 1933, he founded the Bulgarian Contemporary Music Society (the Union of Bulgarian Composers) and is almost singlehandedly responsible for the emergeance of Bulgarian classical music as an acknowledged part of the European musical fabric.  The State conservatory bears his name, and an international music competition is named after him.

The Vladigerov piano concerti are works very much worth hearing.  They make use of Bulgarian folk idioms worked into westerm musical structures, and have some very beautiful moments.  The first movement of the third concerto in particular is very beautiful and is very reminiscent of Rachmaninoff.  And the third movement is delightful in a Bulgarian Rhapsody sort of way.

Vladigeroff hiself performs the 5th conterto.  His son, Alexander conducts the first two and the 4th which takes a decisive and exciting leap into the Soviet era under the watchful eye of Rimsky-Korsakov, and could well be the finest of the Vladigerov piano concerti.

For the sake of interest, I include a recording of the Jewish Poem so admired by Shostakovich.  It is indeed a beautiful symphonic utterance.

Piano Concerto 1 in A minor, Op 6 (1918)
i Moderato
18:58 ➢ ii Andante cantabile
30:06 ➢ iii Allegro con fuoco
Teodor Moussev, Piano
Alexander Vladigerov conducting the Bulgarian National Symphony Orchestra